Paint Smile
by SamCyberCat
Summary: A mother tends to worry about the people her son brings home. She couldn’t help worrying when he introduced her to Ryo. Ryo/Fubuki from Tenjoin-mother's POV.


Notes: For the gx_100. Set pre-GX during the summer after Ryo and Fubuki's first year at Duel Academia. Obviously a fan version of the Tenjoins' mother as none was shown, based on a version used for RPs with Gemma. I enjoy her too much for her not to turn up at some point.

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When he started to become a teenager Fubuki brought many friends home with him; this was not unusual. He seemed to go through friends at an incredible rate to the extent that his mother didn't bother learning their names anymore – she'd probably never see them again.

It was… worrying for a parent. She hoped that sending him to the academia would cure the problem. That he would find a more permanent friend to stick with. She had to admit that it seemed to have worked, though Ryo Marufuji had not been what she was expecting.

She got use to the scruffy boys Fubuki brought back. They were polite when he introduced them to her but as much as she turned a blind eye Mrs Tenjoin could not help but notice them ogling at her. She was a businesswoman; she was always smartly dressed and very attractive to others. She knew this but it sort of embarrassing for teenage boys to be looking at her in that way, even if they did try to hide it. Still, at least they kept Fubuki happy.

She knew as soon as Fubuki went through the ritual of formally introducing the new friend to her that this one was different. He did not eye-her-up at all. He looked genuinely respectful. And his face was almost grave. This puzzled her most of all. The other kids that Fubuki brought home all had grins plastered across their faces, filled with wonder that iFubuki Tenjoin/i considered them as a friend. But this child didn't smile. He didn't look upset either though, merely blank.

And Mrs Tenjoin felt sorry for him. Much more than she did these whiny children who lived good lives but acted depressed all the time. A blank child was so much worse than that. A child brought to know respect but not much else. She saw it in his eyes. It made her wonder if he'd ever smiled at all.

The meeting was soon over though. As soon as Fubuki had got the approval of his mother towards his friend he went to play elsewhere. To Fubuki his beloved mother was the authority figure of the household. If she approved of something his father would agree also, so his opinion wasn't as important.

His mother tried to return to work, wanting to get the paperwork done before her husband came home, but her mind trailed back to Fubuki's unsmiling new friend. It just seemed so unlikely that he would hang around with Fubuki, as Fubuki usually went for friends who were easy to make jokes with and follow him in whatever game he wanted to play. This boy didn't look like he would at all.

So she found herself walking towards the room Fubuki called his own before she consciously knew she was doing it. She looked through the door to see both of the boys standing in front of the mirror.

Fubuki was smearing lines of paint down the blank boy's face.

"We're too old for this I'm sure," reasoned Ryo, though he didn't push Fubuki away.

"Who are you kidding? People who are in their twenties still paint their faces," Fubuki insisted.

"What sort of people?" It was a suspicious question and contained a stronger hint of a personality than she had heard before.

"You know… clowns, art students, crazy people," concluded Fubuki.

"Oh yes, because I really want to be associated with those groups," said Ryo, but… there it was. A smile! The blank child was actually smiling.

It was an alien expression on his face. One that was not use to being there and still looked as if it was adjusting. It was there though. And it looked as if he was glad that it was.

She smiled.

She had been wrong. Perhaps Fubuki had found a friend who would last after all, a friend who needed him. Because as she watched her son put more paint onto Ryo's face she could tell that he wanted Ryo to continue to smile for him.


End file.
